What Is Waacking Dance? Origin & How To Dance?
From the underground clubs of Los Angeles in the 1970s, the waacking dance has become a monument for the participation and influence of the LGBTQIA+ community in the street dance scene.
The fluid arm movements, intricate hand gestures, and footwork of this dance over the background of classic 70s disco has caught the attention of many.
Most recently, it was choreographed into a dance session on an episode of So You Think You Can Dance. It’s even incorporated into the dance theater curriculum at the University of South Carolina!
But before we get too deep into it … who created the waacking dance? What about its history and characteristics? We’ll be answering all of these questions in today’s feature on the waacking dance!
What Is Waacking Dance?
You can recognize this special flavor of street dancing by its intricate and fast arm movements and freezes. Most of the movements will originate in the shoulders of the dancer. Some moves are, amusingly, described as: “[resembling] a person dancing with invisible nunchucks” (more on this later.)
While the footwork of Waacking draws inspiration from Latin and jazz dance, the style’s primary focus is always on the expressive and dynamic use of the arms and hands.
The dance as a whole has a distinctly feminine flair to it and is extremely expressive. So expressive, in fact, that some people may mistake the snappy and strong movements of the dancer to be aggressive!
Waacking Dance Origin
The waacking dance style originated in the underground LGBTQIA+ clubs of Los Angeles in the 1970s.
Before the arrival of waacking, at the time, a dancing style known as “punking” was really popular among club-goers. The word “punk” was used back then as a derogatory term for gay men.
Waacking is basically punking for a different name. The “waacking” dance meaning was derived from “whack”, which is a dance move in punking that involves moving the arms and hands over the head to the rhythm of the music.
Even though punking was a big hit among club-goers at the time, the word “punking” has a negative connotation to it that nobody wants to be associated with. That’s why the term “Waackin” was born.
Later, Jeffery Daniel, a famous American dancer, added the “g” to “Waackin” and the name’s now mainstream today.
Nobody really knows who’s the first person to come up with the dance or even thought up the term “Waackin”. Like many of the underground street dances at the time, it just popped into existence and quickly spread to clubs all around the country.
According to some sources, the dance came to being from imported Disco music, which was manually sped up to higher tempi to create a livelier and more danceable atmosphere in a club.
Waacking was mostly an underground dance until the TV show Soul Train picked up on it and a famous dance group took up Waacking as their main theme: the LA-based Outrageous Waacking Dancers.
Waacking vs Voguing and Locking
Waacking, Voguing, and Locking are all dance styles that emerged from the underground dance scenes in the 1960s and 1970s. While they share some similarities, each style has its unique characteristics.
The waacking dance characteristics, as we discussed earlier, is a dance style that emphasizes the use of the arms and hands. The movements are fluid and fast-paced.
Voguing, on the other hand, is a dance style that was popularized in the ballroom scene of New York City in the 1980s.
The “old way” of Voguing (used to refer to the original style of the dance) emphasizes the precise formation of lines and shapes from the dancer’s body. Egyptian hieroglyphs and poses from fashion magazines were big influences for this dance style.
And last but not least, Locking started to become popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The dance style emphasizes the use of “locking” movements, which involve freezing the body in specific poses before moving on to the next movement.
While Waacking, Voguing, and Locking all share roots in street dance culture, each style has its unique characteristics and moves, as you can see!
Check more: Where Did The Tutting Dance Originate?
Waacking Dance Moves
Because waacking is a freestyle dance, no one really keeps a tab of all the potential moves out there. It’s up to each individual dancer and their sense of creativity while vibing to the beat of the music.
But to get you started, there are three popular, basic moves that beginners to waacking are usually introduced to. They’re really easy and you can try them right at home!
Waack Back
The Waack Back is performed by rotating the arm around the back of the shoulder and finishing with a sharp jerk of the arm (imagine you’re trying to hit, swat, or whack something.)
Waack Forward
The Waack Forward, on the other hand, is a lower Waack that involves extending the lower arm out in front of the body. Finish up with the whacking motion like in the Waack Back.
Double Waack
Double Waack is a little bit more difficult. In this move, you’ll use both of your arms and swing them forward and backward, finishing up with a whack.
Source: https://citydance.org/who-created-the-waacking-dance-history-characteristics-more/
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